I just wanted to thank you for everything. Talys was set to kindergarten at Gulliver when a client recommended we check out Mandelstam. I remember my first visit to the school when Rod brought a few of the girls from gym class on stage to perform some gymnastics routines. He explained how the school’s focus is on gym and performing arts. He talked about the experience the children would receive with the theater program. He made it sound as if it would be one-of-a-kind. It would be a couple years later – precisely during the song Pulling the Princesswhile watching The Princess of Vanihooda– when I realized what an understatement that was. Of course Mouse King and other musicals that came before it showed me what an incredible theater program you have, but it was something about that moment with the girls suspended in the sky and the little girls twirling the long ribbons and the music (it’s always the music) where I found myself in awe of just how lucky Talys was to have that experience – the experience not only of being on stage in so many wonderful productions, but with all the material being original, amazing and unavailable anywhere else. Jim and Deen are astonishingly talented. And seemingly tireless. I would continue to be brought to teats several times by their respective abilities to create Broadway-caliber songs and get the little ones to pull off their roles and complex choreography with such professionalism. Talys absolutely had the time of her life and I know she learned as much on stage as she did in the classroom; to have Talys matriculate to Ransom Everglades is all I could have asked for from the school’s academic program.

All of the teachers and coaches were wonderful. Their genuine concern for the students and the small size of the school made it feel as though we were part of a family. And I must take this opportunity to acknowledge two people in particular who contribute immeasurably to school’s success. Maggie and Senora Maury. Hold on to these two as long as you can. They are diamonds.

I will continue to be an ambassador to TMS and I know the school, and especially that stage, will always hold a special place in Talys’ heart. So please accept my overwhelming gratitude for providing my daughter with the most magnificent elementary school experience I could have imagined for her. You truly delivered the magic.

Joseph A. Porrello